What is the difference between a catalog and an index? Library catalogs tell you what you will find in the library building

1. What’s the difference?

2.  Encyclopedias
 Magazines
 Newspapers
 Government
documents
 Books
 Journals
 Videos
 CDs (Books on tape)
 Maps

3.  Credible sources
 Table of contents
 Index
 Glossary
 Chapters
 Poems
 Short stories
 Articles

4. WHOLES PARTS
 Books  Chapters
 Journals  Poems
 Newspapers  Articles
 Magazines  Entries
 Anthologies  Songs
 Maps  Movements
 Encyclopedias  Tracks
 Dictionaries  Essays
 Videos  Short stories
 CDs  Pages that talk about a
 Music Scores specific topic in the book

5.  Tells what you will find
in the physical library
building
 The WHOLES

6. “A finding tool that identifies the books,
serials, and other types of sources in a
library’s collection. Also spelled catalogue.
The other major types of finding tools are
bibliographies and indexes. See also online
catalog; opac.”
—Mary George
The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs
to Know. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2008.
(170)

7.  A finding tool that
identifies the whole-
book sources in a
specific collection
 A finding tool that
identifies all of a
library’s newspaper
and periodical
subscriptions as well.
-See Mary George’s Elements of
Library Research, pg. 76.

8.  Like an index finger =
points to other things
 PARTS
 Tells you about articles
 Article indexes or
databases tell about
articles and in some
cases give access to
the full text.

9. “A finding tool that identifies specific
articles, usually providing approaches by
author, assigned-subject descriptors, and
keywords. The other major types of finding
tools are bibliographies and catalogs.”
—Mary George
The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student
Needs to Know. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
UP, 2008. (170)

10.  A finding tool that
identifies the topics
treated in a book (the
familiar subject index in
the back of a nonfiction
volume).
 A finding tool that
identifies individual
articles appearing in
issues of a specific group
of periodicals.
-See Mary George’s Elements of Library
Research, pg. 76.

11. A CATALOG IS LIKE… AN INDEX IS LIKE…
 The Sears Catalog  A compass
 It can point you in the
 It shows you the available direction you need to go to
inventory in the library. find articles, pages that
“Sears Catalogue 1935- Women’s Coats.” discuss your topic, books that
Photo by Genibee. you may need, etc.